The effect of dynamic range compression on the psychoacoustic quality and loudness of commercial music

It is common practice for music productions to be mastered with the aim of increasing the perceived loudness for the listener, allowing one record to stand out from another by delivering an immediate impact and intensity. Since the advent of the Compact Disc in 1980, music has increased in RMS level by up to 20dB. This results in many commercial releases being compressed to a dynamic range of 2–3 dB. Initial findings of this study have determined that amplitude compression adversely affects the audio signal with the introduction of audible artifacts such as sudden gain changes, modulation of the noise floor and signal distortion, all of which appear to be related to the onset of listener fatigue. In this paper, the history and changes in trends with respect to dynamic range are discussed and findings will be presented and evaluated. Initial experimentation, and both the roadmap and challenges for further and wider research are also described and discussed. The key aim of this research is to quantify the effects (both positive and negative) of dynamic range manipulation on the audio signal and subsequent listener experience. A future goal of this study is to ultimately define recommended standards for the dynamic range levels of mastered music in a similar manner to those associated with the film industry

Stigma, Social Comparison and Self-Esteem in Adults with an Intellectual Disability

Background: The paper examines the perception of stigma in 43 adults with an intellectual disability, the relationship this has with their psychological well-being and whether the process of social comparison has a moderating effect on this relationship. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based, within-participant design was used. Participants completed three self-report measures of perception of stigma, self-esteem and social comparison. Results: Perception of stigma was found to be significantly related to negative social comparisons, which in turn was significantly related to low self-esteem. No difference was found between social comparisons made with other service users and those made with people in the community. Social comparison was not found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between stigma and self-esteem. Conclusion: This study provides support for the influence of the perception of stigma and social comparison on the self-concept of individuals with an intellectual disability

Altering world order: The alter-globalization movement and the World Trade Organization

This thesis analyses the relationship between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the alter-globalization movement through the theoretical framework of Robert W. Cox. A Coxian perspective highlights that the WTO is a central international organization of the current nebuleuse, and one integral to enforcing, promoting and defending transnational corporate hegemony. The emergence of the protest movement inaccurately labelled the ‘anti-globalization movement’ can be described as a Coxian counter-hegemonic structure. From the plethora of protesters making up this ‘anti-globalization movement’ who dispute the legitimacy of the WTO, a distinct alter-globalization movement can be identified. It prescribes the alternative principles of public accountability, the rights of people and the protection of the environment as guides to reforming the WTO towards a Coxian ‘new multilateralism’. This thesis asks: to what extent has this alter-globalisation movement succeeded in altering the policies and processes of the WTO in accordance with these principles? In Coxian terms the questions of how far the campaign for ‘new multilateralism’ has successfully altered the hegemony of the current world order and avoided trasformismo are asserted. After illustrating corporate structural power within the WTO’s policies and procedures, the alter-globalisation movement is defined as an entity of overlapping social movements and Non-Governmental Organizations (Alter-NGOs). The thesis identifies and evaluates three strategies employed by the alter-globalisation movement to place its values at the heart of the WTO: demonstrations on the street; assisting developing states during negotiations; and submitting amicus briefs to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). The obstacles presented by the WTO’s policy of trasformismo are then detailed, namely: political elites coopting the alter-globalization movement’s principles into their own rhetoric; the cooption of NGOs by political elites from the developing world, and the cooption of NGOs and the fierce rejection of any NGO influence within the WTO. In its conclusions the thesis details the manner in which trasformismo is a significant tool in the armoury of corporate hegemony for resisting reform, and thereby informs existing literature on the problems faced by all social movements and NGOs engaging with reforming the world order

Halogenation effects in Intramolecular Furan Diels-Alder reactions:broad scope synthetic and computational studies

For the first time a comprehensive synthetic and computational study of the effect of halogen substitution on both furan and dienophile for the intramolecular Furan Diels-Alder (IMDAF) reaction has been undertaken. Contrary to our initial expectations, halogen substitution on the dienophile was found to have a significant effect, making the reactions slower and less thermodynamically favourable. However, careful choice of the site of furan halogenation could be used to overcome dienophile halogen substitution, leading to highly functionalised cycloadducts. These reactions are thought to be controlled by the interplay of three factors: positive charge stabilisation in the transition state and product, steric effects and a dipolar interaction term identified by high level calculations. Frontier orbital effects do not appear to make a major contribution in determining the viability of these reactions, which is consistent with our analysis of calculated transition state structural data

Heredity

The recognition of the Principle of Heredity extends back to the early Greeks and Romans. Plato and Lucretius both compare the succession of lives to-the racers with torches in the games of the Athen- ian festival to Vulcan: thus Plato, "Handing on life to one another as a lamp (Or torch) ", and Lucretius, "And in a short space the generation of living beings are changed and like runners hand on the torch of life." Osborn in his book "From the Greeks to Darwin ", MacMillan & Co., 1894, p.27, says "The not- ion of hereditary transmission of characters was extremely ancient, and was naturally founded upon the early observed likeness of offspring to parents. Aristotle also commented upon the principles of the prepotency of the characteristics of one parent over the other, as well as of Atavism." He says:- i.e. Aristotle "Children resemble their parents not only in congenital characters, but in these acquired later in life. For cases are known where parents have been marked by scars, and children have shewn traces of these scars at the same pàints; a case is also reported from Chalcedon in which a father had been branded with a letter, and the same letter some- what blurred and not sharply defined appeared upon the arm of his child."It is of great interest to note that the system of Lycùrgus established by him nearly 800 years E.C. did not omit regulations regarding marriage and children, "whose welfare was even before their birth a concern to the republic ", Gillies History of An- cient Greece, Vol.I, p.141. Lycurgus argued that the physical qualities of children depend largely on the constitution of their parents, while likewise the "generous and brave produce the brave and good.." The Spartan women were not degraded, as in some other countries of Greece to drudgery, as Lycurgus believed that women so degraded were incapable of bearing good sons to the state, but were.expected to take as their chief employment the performance of offices of domestic economy and to prepare food and clothes for themselves and families. Marriage although regarded as a duty could only be contracted in the full vigour of age, and it is stated that those regulations produced a beneficial effect in the physical condition of the Spartans. Lycurgus lived. in. the infancy of society, regarding which state Gillies says "men are occupied with the business of the present hour, forgetful of the past, and careless of the future." The system instituted by this famous legislater of Sparta was, however, superior in many respects to some customs with which we are not unfamiliar to -day. In this connection the words of Darwin may well be quoted "Man scans with scrupulous care the characters and pedigree of his horses, cattle and dogs, before he mates them. But when he comes to his own marriage, he rarely or never takes any such care. He is impelled by nearly the same mot- ives as the lower animals when they are left to their own free choice, though he is so far superior to them that he highly values mental charms and virtues. On the other hand, he is stronly attracted by mere wealth or rank. Yet he might by selection do some- thing not only for the bodily constitution and frame of his offspring but for their intellectual and moral qualities. Both sexes ought to refrain from marriage if they are in any marked degree in- ferior in body or mind, p.617 Descent of Man.Haeckel, in his "Evolution of Man ", p.I03, referring to the same subject, at a later period than Darwin, says "In this respect many of the higher animals exercise a better taste and a more impartial judg- ment than does man. But even among men, sexual selection has given rise to a noble form of family life which is the chief foundation in which civil- isation and social states have been built. The human race certainly, owes its origin in great measure to the perfected sexual selection which our ancestors exercised in the choice of wives.

A Life More Ordinary? Ten theses on a normalization of Germany's role in the EU

This paper presents a set of theses to argue that, two decades after German re-unification and the end of the Cold War, Germany is playing a changed role in the European Union. It argues that changes in the European Union, German domestic politics and in its bilateral diplomacy have resulted in the emergence of a normalized European policy. The paper explores the sources of these changes from enlargement, strains in the euro-zone and bilateral relations with France, through changed processes of policy-making to public opinion. Since Germany has played a leading role in the integration process, the paper‘s findings have wide implications for the future of the EU itself

Recovery of the critically endangered river pipefish, Syngnathus watermeyeri, in the Kariega Estuary, Eastern Cape province

An intensive ichthyofaunal survey in the permanently open Kariega Estuary along the Eastern Cape coast has identified a breeding population of the critically endangered river pipefish, Syngnathus watermeyeri, within the middle and upper reaches of the system. This is the first recorded capture of this species in the estuary for over four decades. We suggest that the presence of S. watermeyeri is the result of the heavy rainfall within the region, which contributed to the establishment of optimum habitat requirements (mesohaline conditions and increased food availability) of the pipefish